Despite their scale, Cavalier Brewing has punched well above its weight with its Cavalier Courage. Indeed there are some CSR lessons here for the big brewers .. well, any company really.

Cavalier Courage
It’s an easy drinking craft beer just in time for summer: just released in a 330 mL bottle. More importantly it’s been created to raise awareness and funds for Motor Neuron Disease.

There’s lots about this effort that’s commendable for obvious reasons. However, I was especially impressed that the Cavalier team designed the label too. Courageous: but it’s worked (in my view).

In case your not up on your Greek myths, the label features Sisyphus, who was punished and condemned to roll a boulder up a hill only to see it roll down every time. As there is no cure yet for Motor Neuron Disease there are unfortunate parallels in Sisyphus’ plight and those suffering with MND.

Cavalier Courage is a 4.5% ABV Blonde Ale brewed with summer Saaz hops; they provide a fruity bitterness perfect for the summer to come.

Cheers! Again, well done Cavalier. Congratulations for this courageous effort.

PS: I was privileged to be invited to the launch of the beer at Virginia Plain in Melbourne’s Flinders Lane.

Victorian Cavalier Brewing company deserves a quiet pat on the back.
They have demonstrated that you don’t have to be big in brewing or sponsorship to make serious socially responsible efforts that make a difference.

Cavalier has just launched an initiative to help raise research funds for, and awareness of, motor neurone disease (MND).

Central to this effort was an approach by Dr Ian Davis, who has MND and loves his beer, for a fundraising brew. Cavalier readily agreed to the special brew and have, appropriately, called it Courage Ale.

The beer will be launched in early 2013 raising funds for MND and me and Zo-ee: two Australian organisations active in the MND cause.

Apart from being a worthy thing to do – and I know this was not the objective – from a PR/reputation-building perspective Cavalier has shown that genuine humanity and compassion can go a long way in building reputation. This ain’t no typical ‘corporate’ cheque handover/grip ‘n grin; they are clearly and passionately involved.

And doesn’t that empathy shine through?

CSR usually means ‘corporate social responsibility’ but I’d like to think this case of ‘Cavalier social responsibility’ will catch on.

A few years ago I spent a few weeks in New York: my first trip. Expecting a market awash in Bud and Miller I was surprised at the strong presence of Brooklyn Brewery beers in Manhattan where we were staying. Pleasantly surprised because the beers were so good.

Their quality was underlined during Melbourne’s Good Beer Week when Brooklyn Brewery events were sell outs. Dammit! [note to self: get GBW tickets earlier next year.]

Brooklyn brews were, then for me in NY, a wake-up call as to how healthy the craft brewing scene was in the States. [For an insight to where the craft beer market stands now in the USA, see a great review in Aleheads blog. I’ll return to this in a future post.]

And I was in heaven when it was on tap at Dizzy’s Jazz Club in Columbus Circle: sun setting over Central Park; jazz; and great beer.

Fresh cloudy beer with a green swirl of fresh hop particles. Crikey! Just the thought would once see beer drinkers avoid a pub like the plague.

Fresh Alpha Pale Ale with a swirl of green hops to prove it!

A bit heady I know – but this glass underlines a shift in Australia’s beer market. Some call it a revolt. Where once the nearest brewery was only the big one in the state capital, now we have smaller breweries: local breweries. In Melbourne, for example, we now have many new, interesting and tasty brews from city-based craft breweries: Cavalier and Thunder Road Brewing to name just two standouts.

Local and fresh: words that beer drinkers are reacquainting themselves with.

I dropped in to Matilda Bay’s new Port Melbourne brewery yesterday with a fellow beer fancier. Within walking distance of home: it’s local and, as you can see, fresh. (And ‘yes’ I know it’s owned by CUB.) The treat of the visit was a glass of Matilda Bay’s Alpha Pale Ale straight from the fermenter. It was cloudy; floral; a bit raw; and delicious. To underline this there was a green swirl of fresh hop particles at the bottom of the glass as the top pic tries to show.

Fresh from the Bay.

There were three taps offering Matilda Bay brews straight from the fermenter: Alpha Pale; Double Stout and The Black Thong. We sampled them all. What a treat. Our fave was the Alpha. Read more…